So, The Sun is retreating with its tail between its legs.

No, nor in the Daily Mail, Express etc.

They are more interested in this, or royal fluff stories - easier to bury bad government news.. 🙄

I wouldn’t use it as toilet paper even if I was desperate. Vile, disgusting poisonous rag. The Sun hacks must be so proud of their journalism … It should be shut down . Meanwhile Johnson continues to evade scrutiny to the Covid Enquiry over his WhatsApp messages and it’s not given any media coverage . It’s a High Court Order so why aren’t the police hauling him in ?

Mollietwoknees

I wouldn’t use it as toilet paper even if I was desperate. Vile, disgusting poisonous rag. The Sun hacks must be so proud of their journalism … It should be shut down . Meanwhile Johnson continues to evade scrutiny to the Covid Enquiry over his WhatsApp messages and it’s not given any media coverage . It’s a High Court Order so why aren’t the police hauling him in ?

Because he's Boris and got Brexit done, albeit badly? 🙄

I don't know - his groupie rags are more interested in pictures of his latest wife knocking out the latest baby.

Don't ask me....🙄

Can I just make an odd/irrelevant contribution? This is a first. I agree with tickingbird. I hope this is a News of The World moment for The Sun.

It’s impossible not to see its involvement here as part of Murdoch’s desire to destroy the BBC

The fact they ignored the denial from the young man of any illegal activity is shocking

Totally agree!!!

Did the Sun pay the young persons parents for their story?

Printing these scurrilous stories gets the Sun a lot of free publicity, it was a gift, the BBC plastered our screens for several day with full page adverts for the Sun’s story, which turns out to be rubbish.

The BBC could just have referred to a story in a “national newspaper” but the BBC journalists just could not resist dramatizing it all, egg on lots of faces.

Don’t watch news or read papers so do not know what’s going on !!! After 70 years on earth I know that tittle-tattle is just that!!

Well, it seems that Victoria Derbyshire, and that department at the BBC, were carrying out an investigation into Edward, prior to the Sun's articles:

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/huw-edwards-bbc-presenter-wife-sex-scandal-b2375177.html

Huw’s identity was obviously an open secret in the BBC for weeks before the Sun article and was being investigated, by at least one journalist.
It seems to me there are a lot of BBC staff have got an agenda of one kind or another, which does not fit well with its role as a “national broadcaster”. If a similar scandal occurred amongst the ITV or other news media, it would have merited zero attention.

It seems to me we are in the middle of a shake up of many big organisations as to what is appropriate and acceptable. ITV was in the spotlight for some time as to the breakfast show...stuff coming out of the CBI, police, fire service etc - we're in a time of changing attitudes and values.

wendyann23 I'd very much like to know that too (was there payment).

I thought this thread was going to be about the weather because it’s raining 😂😂😂

It certainly has retreated in South Wales 🌞 ⛅️

Wyllow3

It seems to me we are in the middle of a shake up of many big organisations as to what is appropriate and acceptable. ITV was in the spotlight for some time as to the breakfast show...stuff coming out of the CBI, police, fire service etc - we're in a time of changing attitudes and values.

wendyann23 I'd very much like to know that too (was there payment).

I think that is a very good point, Wyllow. Certain behaviours that may once have been defended as acceptable are now considered inappropriate, and this is filtering through to institutions such as you describe.

What would once have been considered 'a bit naughty' or to somehow go with the territory of being a celebrity has, since 'Me Too' and similar movements, become unacceptable. I'm sure we have all seen that shift ourselves on a more prosaic level - at my first workplace (a civil service department) some quite senior men had 'nude' calendars on the walls, and nobody thought anything of it, or at least wouldn't have thought of making a complaint. Sexist remarks were commonplace, and unremarkable. 'Jokes' about secretaries sitting on the boss' knee were pretty standard, and so on. It's not in the same league as some of today's scandals, but if any of that went on now, women would (rightly, IMO) complain, and would be taken seriously, which we would not have been in the 70s or before.

I'm not sure that (outside of obvious boundaries) it is helpful to rake over the past and punish people for doing what was then ok, but I do think that enforcing changes in behaviour now in line with what is acceptable in today's world is absolutely necessary. Whereas people are, on the whole, more accepting of the fact that everyone is entitled to a private sex life and are more tolerant of differences in sexuality and 'kinks', they are far less accepting of exploitation and coercion. Instead of teaching women and girls not to be alone with certain men, the message now is that people have to keep their hands to themselves or face the consequences (and that applies to people of both sexes). I'm ok with that.

Re the payment to the parents in the HE case, AFAIK what was published was that they did not ask for money, but that is not quite the same as they're not being paid.

Yes and it would be really useful to listen to some of the analysis that's available about 'buying' consent. Those discussions happen about prostitution but probably not so much about only fans etc.

Not sure about the Sun backing off but Talk tv have just paid the family of the youngster a vast amount of money for an interview.
Talk tv being part of the Sun (Rupert Murdoch).

HousePlantQueen

This whole episode has been an unnecessary and sordid titillation. It wouldn't have been 'reported' by the Sun if the allegations had been made about a solicitor, civil servant or bus driver. Murdoch is a loathsome old man, frustrated because he cannot control broadcasting in the UK. I got rid of Sky years ago, and anyone bleating on about defunding the BBC needs to be aware of who and what is waiting in the wings to take over.

Now, has anyone seen any reports in the Murdoch owned press of Johnson not handing over his 'phone? His possible contempt of court? Osborne's email and it's sordid contents?

Well I certainly knew nothing about an email sent to various people regarding George Osborne until I read mention of it on GN. I had a quick look on Google but couldn't find a copy of the actual email; eventually found a copy of it on Mumsnet! It's quite an explosive email and wonder why none of the mainstream media sources covered the story (unless they did and I missed it!).

dragonfly46

Not sure about the Sun backing off but Talk tv have just paid the family of the youngster a vast amount of money for an interview.
Talk tv being part of the Sun (Rupert Murdoch).

By doing an interview where people are bound to recognise the parents will be revealing the young person’s identity, when they made it clear that they don’t want this to happen. That’s wrong on every level, I would imagine the estrangement will be irreconcilable after such a breach of trust. It begins to smack of Jeremy Kyle.

I have just posted on another thread that according to David Yelland - ex-Sun editor - that Murdoch who will be overseeing this whole sordid episode, and that in fact The Sun will have zero evidence- but it matters not a jot to Murdoch as he sees the young adult and HE as collateral in his war with the BBC, which he wants gone.

He will have costed the resultant libel case into his strategy.

If that is true, it’s terrible.

It’s so frightening

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12298367/Parents-youngster-centre-Huw-Edwards-scandal-TalkTV-documentary-series.html


It's going to be a 3 part documentary on Talk TV, which the parents have been allegedly offered a huge sum of money for.

"The parents of the young person they claim was given £35,000 by Huw Edwards for explicit photographs have reportedly been handed a huge sum to appear on screen as part of a three-part series, it emerged today.

The couple, who along with their drug addict child have not been named, are said to have accepted an offer of tens of thousands of pounds to appear on Rupert Murdoch's TalkTV.

The Guardian has reported that an interview with the young person's mother and stepfather has already been recorded and edited for broadcast. It is not known if it has been carried out by the station's star Piers Morgan.

The parents of the young person they claim was given £35,000 by Huw Edwards for explicit photographs have reportedly been handed a huge sum to appear on screen as part of a three-part series, it emerged today.

The couple, who along with their drug addict child have not been named, are said to have accepted an offer of tens of thousands of pounds to appear on Rupert Murdoch's TalkTV."

But, there appears to be a backlash starting over all this. Edwards is in hospital, and there are privacy issues over the young man (Owen Jones did confirm, on TV, that all these allegations come from young men. Young in the sense of age - not legality.).

This will end in tears somewhere. 🙄

Thank you for publishing the statement Diamond. I will just add to the questions about the moral compass of Sun journalists, their written work requires improvement. There is a split infinitive in the last paragraph: they have been told..

The young man’s parents on tv will certainly tell the world his name , that’s protecting him ?

their drug addict child
That it an utterly charming label!!